Chapter 13
Tuesday December 25
7:30 PM
Dick and Kori are washing the dishes from the meal Vic made. Vic, Bee, Raven, and Logan are sitting in the living room watching A Christmas Story. Bee is cuddled into Vic on one end of the couch and Raven is sitting on the other end. Logan is sitting on the floor leaning against the couch by Raven. Dick and Kori walk over when they finish the dishes and sit on the couch together. When the movie ends, Vic speaks up.
"I don't know about y'all," he says, "but I wanna open presents."
"Me too," Kori says.
"I'll pass them out," Logan says, standing up. He starts passing out presents. "Do we want everyone to open them at the same time or one at a time?"
"How about one at a time," Dick says. "That way we can see what everyone gets." Logan finishes passing out all the presents.
"Who goes first?" Bee asks.
"Let's draw numbers," Logan says. He gets a piece of paper and a pencil. He tears the paper in six pieces then writes one through six on the pieces. He then crumples up each piece and puts them in a bowl and mixes them up. Each person draws out a paper and opens it to see their number. Logan sits down after everyone has taken a paper.
"So who's number one?" Vic asks.
"Me!" Kori says excitedly. She starts opening her gifts. She gets nail polish and makeup from Vic, a book (The Fault in Our Stars) from Raven, a movie (The Proposal) from Logan, a charm bracelet from Bee, and Demi Lovato concert tickets from Dick. "Thank you friends for the wonderful gifts. I truly love them all."
"You're welcome," Vic says. "Who's next?"
"I am," Logan says. He opens a movie (The LEGO Movie) from Kori, a book (Animal Farm) from Raven, and a Nickelback CD from Bee. He opens a small box from Dick and Vic. Inside is a set of keys. He takes them out and looks at Dick and Vic with a puzzled look. "What's this?"
"Well since your birthday was just a few weeks ago and we both just got you something small, we figured we'd give you a bigger gift for Christmas," Dick says. "Those are the keys to your new truck."
He looks at them shocked. "You guys got me a truck?!"
"Yep," Vic says. "Now you won't have to use one of our vehicles."
"You guys are awesome," Logan says. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"No problem," Vic says. "But you can wait til after we all open our presents before you go check it out. My turn now." He starts opening his gifts. He gets a new tool kit from Dick, grilling utensils and cooking apron from Bee, a book on the top ten teams in football history from Raven, a video game (Call of Duty) from Logan, and a steering wheel cover and matching seat covers from Kori. Bee opens her gifts next. She gets a book from Raven and a movie from Logan (both The Perks of Being a Wallflower), a Beyoncé CD from Dick, shoes from Kori, and a necklace and matching earrings from Vic.
"They're beautiful," Bee says to Vic. "Thank you." She kisses him briefly. "Who's up next?"
"I am," Raven says holding up her number. She gets a mug from Bee, a marble chess set from Vic, a book from Dick and a movie from Kori (both are Beastly), and the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe from Logan. "Thank you, all of you."
"You are most welcome, Friend Raven," Kori says.
"Guess it's my turn to open my presents now," Dick says. He get new sunglasses from Logan, a book about the history of martial arts from Raven, a Linkin Park CD from Bee, a new motorcycle helmet from Vic, and a new watch from Kori.
"Now that everyone is done, I'm gonna go check out my truck," Logan says getting up. He practically runs out of the room and goes down to the garage. The others follow him at a slower pace. When they get down to the garage, they see Logan sitting in his truck. It is a black 2011 Ford Ranger.
"I know it's not new," Vic says. "But it only had about 25,000 miles on it and it's in good condition."
"It's perfect," Logan says as he gets out. "You guys are awesome."
"You're welcome," Dick says. "You can test drive it tomorrow. Let's go watch another movie upstairs." The others agree and go upstairs. Logan is still by his truck and Raven stays down as well.
"Now you don't have to borrow my car anymore," Raven says.
"We can still carpool to school though," Logan says. "There's no need for us to both drive when we're going to the same place."
"I guess you're right. Looks like a nice truck."
"Yeah. Wanna go with me when I take it out tomorrow?"
"Maybe. We should go upstairs with the others."
"I suppose so." They go to the elevator and take it up to the living room. As they are going up, Raven speaks.
"Thanks for the book by the way. Poe is one of my favorite authors."
"I know, and I knew you only had a few of his stories so I figured you'd like his complete works."
"I do like it. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Um, I actually have another present for you but I didn't want to be in front of the others."
"What is it?"
"Let's take our presents to our rooms then I'll show you."
"Okay." The elevator stops and they go into the living room.
"There you guys are," Dick says. "We were about to start the movie." Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on the TV ready to be played.
"Go ahead and start it," Logan says. "We'll be right back. We're going to put our presents in our rooms first."
"That can wait," Vic says.
"It won't take us long. Just start it. We'll be back soon." Logan and Raven both grab their gifts and go to their rooms where they put their things away. Logan grabs a small present and walks to Raven's room. He stands outside her door. "Can I come in?"
"Yes," Raven says. Logan walks in and shuts the door.
"Before I give you your gift, I need to tell you something."
"What is it?"
Logan lets out a breath and looks at Raven. "Remember on Friday when we were down on the rocks talking?"
"Yes."
"And I told you that there was something I wanted to tell you but that wasn't the right time to say it?"
"Yes."
"Well, I still don't know if now is a good time to say it, but I don't know when that right time will be." He takes a deep breath. "I like you Raven, a lot. As more than a friend."
Raven is speechless for a little bit. When she speaks, she is surprised. "Really? You do?"
"Yes I do. I have for a while."
"Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"Because I was afraid that you don't like me like that and I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Neither one speak for a few minutes then Logan speaks again. "I have liked you since before you started dating Malcolm. I was jealous when you were dating him. I hate what he did to you and I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. But my feelings are one of the reasons why I was really protective of you when you two broke up."
"If you liked me for that long, why did you date Terra?"
"I told you that I didn't think that you would ever date me. So I tried dating someone else to try to get over my feelings toward you. Needless to say, it didn't work."
"When you told me that you didn't think I would date you, don't you remember me saying that any girl would be lucky to date you?"
"Yeah."
"Was I not included in those girls?"
"I didn't want to risk our friendship by asking you."
"And what about now?"
"Raven, will you please be my girlfriend? I don't want to see you with another guy and possibly get hurt. I really like you and I hope you like me too."
Raven doesn't say anything for a little bit and Logan gets nervous. Raven finally speaks after several minutes of silence. "I like you too Logan. Ever since we started sharing our secrets and told each other of our pasts, I've seen you differently. I used to think of you as carefree and immature. I now see that it's just an act to cover up the pain from your past. I've seen that we actually have a lot more in common than I originally thought."
"So will you be my girlfriend?"
"Yes I will," Logan smiles widely, "but," his smiles falters slightly, "can we please take things slow? The incident with Malcolm and Terra just happened a few days ago and I don't know how comfortable I am with anything physical right now."
"Of course Rae. I would never do anything that would make you uncomfortable. You can set the pace for us with intimacy, for lack of a better word."
"Thank you."
"Can we try out a hug?" Raven goes to him and wraps her arms around him. He wraps his around her as well.
"I think hugs will be okay." They release each other from their hug and Logan hands her a gift.
"Here's your present." She takes it and opens it. Inside is a silver chain with a small raven pendant on it.
"Wow. Thank you. But why did you get me this?"
"For saying yes to being my girlfriend?"
"You would have given it to me anyway. What's the real reason?"
"When I was out doing some of my Christmas shopping, I saw it in a store and it reminded me of you."
"So I remind you of darkness, sadness and death? You do know that is what ravens symbolize right?"
"To some yes. But to others it is a symbol of light, goodness and cunning. Ravens also symbolize mind, thought and wisdom. That is why it reminded me of you. With everything you have been through, you could be depressed and shut yourself away from everyone. But instead you have friends and you help us out whenever we are down. You shine your own light for the rest of us when we need it."
"I don't think that's true."
"Well whether you believe it or not, it is true. So you should start believing it."
"Thank you Logan. That's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."
"You're welcome."
"I got you something too." She goes over to her bedside table and opens the drawer. She takes out an envelope and hands it to Logan.
"You didn't have to get me anything extra."
"Well I never gave you a birthday present or gave you anything for all you did protecting me from Malcolm and helping me with dealing with that."
"You still didn't have to get me anything." He opens the envelope and pulls out two plane tickets. "Two round trip plane tickets from Jump City to Portland, Oregon? What's this for?"
"You said that you haven't visited your parents' graves much. I thought that over spring break, we could go there so you could visit. I don't have to go if you don't want me to."
"This is…I…Raven, wow. I don't know what to say. Thank you. And of course I want you to go with me. It's been years since I've been there. I don't know how I'd get through it without you. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome." Logan hugs her and kisses her forehead.
"I don't know how I can say thank you enough."
"You don't have to. It's me thanking you for all you have done for me these past few months."
"You know I'd do anything for you Rae." She blushes and looks down.
"So was you telling me you like me one of your secrets?"
"I guess so."
"So does that mean I have to tell you one of mine?"
"You don't have to. I'm happy enough that you said yes that I don't care if you share one or not."
"Well we did make a deal so I guess I should honor that."
"You don't have to if you don't want to. I won't hold it against you."
"No I'll tell you one. Just promise to not take advantage of it."
"What do you mean?"
"My secret. I actually do like it when you call me Rae, even though I always tell you to not call me that."
"Why do you always tell me to not call you Rae then?"
"When we first met, it annoyed me. But after we started spending more time together, especially these past few months, it gave me a sense of acceptance and happiness that I have such a great friend. But I couldn't let you calling me Rae slide. I had been correcting you for years. I couldn't just stop now."
"Well now that we are dating, can I call you Rae without you correcting me?"
"When we are alone, yes. If we are in front of the others no promises. I want to ask you something else about us dating though."
"What's that?"
"Can we keep us a secret?"
"Why?"
"After all that's happened with Malcolm, I don't want a public relationship. I already get called horrible things at school. Everyone will think we are together just for sex and I don't want that. Also if Kori knew we were dating, she would want us to double date with her and Dick and probably Vic and Bee too. Kori is like a sister to me, but I don't want to go on double dates with her and Dick. She would also probably want to have more 'girl talks' with me too."
"Okay. I can understand that. I don't want to double date with them either. But that means I can't do anything with you as my girlfriend while we're around anyone? No hugging, no cuddling on the couch, no holding hands?"
"Just for now. Please be patient with me."
"Okay, I will. But when we are alone, you can expect me to act as a boyfriend should."
"Okay. We should get back to the living room so the others don't become suspicious." She puts her necklace on her dresser. "I promise I will wear it. Just not tonight."
"Okay." They go to Logan's room, where he puts the envelope with his tickets into one of his desk drawers. They then go down to the living room holding hands. Before they walk into the room, they let go of each other. They go over to the couch and sit down.
"What took you so long?" Dick asks. "You missed a third of the movie."
"Calm down," Logan says. "We were just talking about things and lost track of time. It's not like we've never seen this movie before anyway." Dick glares at him then goes back to watching the movie, Kori cuddling into him. After the movie ends, Dick gets up to take it out and everyone else goes up to their rooms to go to bed. Logan walks with Raven to her room. She opens her door. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then."
"Yeah."
"If you have a nightmare or can't sleep, you can come to my room and wake me up. I'll try to help you sleep."
"I don't want to wake you up."
"It's not a big deal Rae. I want you to be able to sleep too, so if you need me, wake me up."
"You could just sleep in my bed with me again. Then I wouldn't have to wake you."
"If you want me to, I will. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable with it."
"We've done it before. It's no different now."
"We are dating now."
"Why should that make a difference? Are you going to change now that we're together?"
"No, of course not."
"Then sharing a bed will be fine."
"Okay. I'll be right back then. Just need to change my clothes." He goes to his room and changes into shorts and a t-shirt. He goes back to Raven's room and knocks on the door.
"It's open," she calls. He opens her door, goes inside, then closes the door behind him. She is sitting up on her bed with her blankets over her legs. Logan goes over and gets in on the other side of the bed. Raven turns off the light and they both lay down. Raven moves closer to Logan and puts her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest. He wraps one of his arms around her and holds her hand on his chest with his other hand.
"Good night Rae." He kisses the hand he is holding.
"Good night Logan." They both fall asleep quickly.